Skip to content
News

Jack White Was More Popular Than the Beatles in 2012

jack white, blunderbuss

Jack White’s Grammy-nominated Blunderbuss — an album SPIN described as “Less White Stripes, more White Album” — has bested the Beatles. The Third Man’s solo debut sold more vinyl copies than any release in 2012, snatching the No. 1 spot from the Fab Four’s Abbey Road, the best-selling vinyl album for the previous three years. According to Nielsen SoundScan, Blunderbuss moved 33,000 proper LPs last year, also making it the highest-selling new album (not a catalog release) since SoundScan started tracking vinyl figures in 2008.

The vinyl victory shouldn’t be too surprising. Blunderbuss was on track to finish first when SoundScan issued its mid-year report back in July, and White himself is a well-known analog advocate who has issued several 7-inch and 12″ releases this year. This is all great news for White, but it looks like that bankruptcy-based White Stripes reunion won’t be happening any time soon.